Officials of Incheon, which governs Songdo International Business District, said Sunday that the size, influence and status of the GCF is much larger and higher than other international organizations which have been located in Korea so far.

“With the GCF secretariat, Incheon and Songdo will emerge as the center for international environment activities and environmentally-friendly technology,” a city official said.

He said by beating strong competitors Geneva and Bonn, the world has acknowledged Songdo’s competitiveness as an international business zone.

“I’d say Songdo will then be able to emerge as an influential city such as New York City, where the U.N. is located,” he said.

Think big, my friend.

I love Songdo, and congratulate the city of Incheon for its success. And you have to admit, Songdo makes the perfect home for the GCF—if you’ve been to Songdo on a weekend, you already know that there’s no place on Earth outside of Antarctica with a lower carbon footprint.

Ye Olde Chosun has a story about Korea’s surprising bid victory, along with the usual stuff about how Ze Germans didn’t really take Korea seriously, blah blah. Of course, with Psy in the Koreans’ corner, the Germans never really had a chance:

Related

Not to beat a dead horse (the imaginary type ridden by Psy or otherwise) but why does no one check the English in important bid collateral like the video embedded at the bottom of the post? WHY? If there’s any new paradigm that needs to be started, it’s the paradigm of using English that’s grammatically correct and makes sense.

rockon

When, and if, this project is actually implemented, it could big.

But, I wonder…do the Korean authorities who underwrote this endeavour understand that foreigners will be living and working here, not just stopping by Insadong for an over-priced cup of tea and then off to Incheon for a novelty box of chocolate-orange kimchi?

BTW, if you wonder how the government treats non-Koreans locally in Songdo, I can tell you it’s quite good. The Incheon city government works hard to provide support for non-Koreans in general. It supports the Incheon Center for International Cooperation and Exchange, which in turns provides extensive educational and informational support to the non-Korean community, particularly for the many non-Koreans working in factories in the Namdong Gongdan area. However, ICICE (with government support) operates free Korean classes at locations throughout the city, in a network far more extensive than anything provided to residents in Seoul. These classes also serve as loci for informing non-Koreans about assistance available to them. For Songdo, the IFEZ Global Service Center provides the same services, in addition to specialized assistance for non-Koreans operating businesses here.

I’ve met ICICE employees on several occasions, and have used some of the IFEZ Global Service Center’s services, and can attest to their sincerity and helpfulness. Outside of my home country (US), I’ve never lived or done business in another country. Still, to me, the local government in Incheon seems more helpful, and more concerned with really trying to help, than are the governments of other Korean cities in which I’ve lived.